Careful What You Wish For
by ilovetvalot
Summary: When it began, he never imagined it ending like this. Dave/Emily


**Author's Note: As you all know by now, we are in full swing on the Profiler's Choice Awards hosted on "Chit Chat on Author's Corner". And we'd like to offer an extra incentive to get those nominations rolling in. For the next five people to complete the nomination ballot in its entirety, I would be happy to write a oneshot of your pairing preference (hetero, slash or femslash, doesn't matter!). We have an abundance of incredible stories and authors to choose from this year and we have already received many wonderful nominations. Just to refresh your memory though, tonnie2001969 and myself (ilovetvalot) have removed ourselves from eligibility in the interest of avoiding all appearances of self-promotion. But, we want to make this an incredible experience for each one of you and give you a well-rounded final voting selection to choose from. So let's all put on our reading caps and pick our favorites! **

**Also, don't forget to sign up for our newest challenge at the forum. We're honoring Halloween with our first ever "Candy Land Challenge" and signups run through September 30th! Details are at the forum!**

**We also have a great new interview with another fellow CM author this week. Come and get to know THUNDERBRAT.**

**As always, guys, Happy Reading!**

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**Careful What You Wish For**

Somehow, they'd come to this. But then, every relationship he'd ever had with a woman that lasted beyond breakfast usually did.

But, he'd hoped, stupidly, that this time would have been different. A man could dream, couldn't he?

You knew it wouldn't be, Rossi, his mind resolutely and stubbornly reminded him. You knew what she'd ultimately want from you if you let this farce of a relationship play out. The one thing you could never give her!

And the bittersweet irony was that she was the one woman he could actually visualize having it with...in another life. A life where his future was not colored by his past…and where his past was not as colorful as it had been.

But he lived in the here and the now, and in THAT place, he wasn't the man for her. No matter how much he wished it could be differently. It was what it was.

"I don't have the heart to do this, Em," Dave said heavily, staring at her with deadened eyes, his voice almost monotone.

"What?" Emily whispered, confusion and surprise filling the one simple syllable.

"You heard me," he said, averting his gaze as he tightened his fingers convulsively around the glass in his hand. "I can't give you what you want from me."

Taking a shocked step backward, she stared at the man she'd shared her life with for over a year. "What are you saying, Dave?"

You have to do this, Rossi. You owe it to her to let her go...to find someone that can give her all the things she wants...a home, a family...a baby.

Steeling himself against the pain he knew would be reflected in those warm dark eyes, Dave lifted his head and faced her. "We had some fun, Emily. We had a good time...but last night proved what I've known all along. We want different things. You want the whole shebang. Domesticity. Kids. I can't give you that. And it's better to call this to a halt now than mislead you into thinking that eventually I'll change. I won't."

"I never asked you to change," Emily countered sharply, stiffening, her shoulders becoming ramrod straight.

"No, you didn't. But can you stand there and deny that those aren't the very things that you desire? That you don't want them with me?" Dave asked, his voice low in the quiet living room, only the ticking of the clock marring the silence as they stared at each other.

Closing her eyes, Emily felt the wet splash of a single teardrop against her cheek. He was right. She'd dreamed of those things her entire life. And in the past few months, it was his face she saw in her fantasies. God, she'd been a fool, imagining that the notorious David Rossi would ever want to settle for home and hearth with her. "No," she whispered, finally opening her eyes to face her bitter present. "I can't deny it."

"It's over, Emily," Dave said gently, resolved, for once, to do the unselfish thing.

She stared at him blindly, heart thudding in her chest as she listened to his grim pronouncement, void of emotion. "Just like that? So easily?"

"Just like that," he echoed with a nod, forcing his voice to maintain timbre. "One day, you'll thank me for this, Emily," he added, gripping the arm of his chair to keep from reaching for her...pulling her to him.

"You think so?" Emily asked, laughing bitterly as she glared at him. Oh, she imagined many things she might like to say to him, but expressing her gratitude was far from the list.

"I hope so," he replied sincerely, his heart twisting as he watched the color drain from her cheeks.

"Do us both a favor, Dave," Emily whispered, snatching her purse and keys from the coffee table with shaking hands. "Hold your breath waiting for it to happen." Turning toward the door, she paused with her hand on the knob to look at him over her shoulder. "You want to know my only consolation here, Rossi?"

Swallowing thickly as he looked into her livid face, etched with pain and misery, he nodded, desperate to keep her in his presence for just one more second. "What?"

Keep your cool, Emily, her mind screamed. Don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you dissolve before his eyes. You can do that later!

"It's knowing that you're going to die a miserable, lonely bastard, a spineless coward that turned his back on genuine love. Unlike you, I probably still have time to find love again. Do you?" she hissed before storming out the door and slamming it with enough force to crack the reinforced glass.

Releasing the breath he'd been holding as her parting words had assaulted him in a shaky gust, Dave wearily leaned his head back against his chair. Listening as the engine of her car roared to life, he reminded himself that he was doing what was necessary.

Better to hurt her now, when she could more easily recover, than to allow her to believe that things could be different...that he could miraculously change.

Squeezing his eyes closed as he heard the sound of crunching gravel outside, he tried to remember why he'd allow himself to wander down this road again.

Too many cases driving them past their comfort levels, too many sleepless nights, too much time together in tiny hotel bars in nameless little towns. Pick your excuse, Rossi.

Because that's all it would be - an excuse.

He'd wanted her, plain and simple. He'd wanted her, and in his typical self-centered style, he'd gone after her, storming her well fortified defenses and damning whatever consequences he incurred along the way.

His mother had been right. You reaped the destruction that you sowed.

And God, he felt it now, staring blindly through the cracked glass at the door where she'd stood only moments ago. It was almost as if a glimmer of her presence still lingered, the fractured panes reflecting a wild pattern against the wood.

For the first time in his life, he'd done the truly unselfish thing. And, as he'd learn well in life, the right choices were seldom painless.

He'd truly fallen into the trap of falling in love with the right woman at the wrong time. A long ago childhood illness prevented him from giving Emily her heart's desire, and he was too old and had way too much of a checkered past to suggest adoption.

No, this was better.

As she'd said earlier, she still had time to find love again. He, on the other hand, was done. Emily Prentiss had taught him a lesson that he'd never forget.

Be careful what you wish for, old man. Getting it could finish breaking an already savaged heart.

_**Finis**_

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_**Author's Note 2 - Also guys, please don't forget that if you'd like to advertise the awards on your own profile pages or stories, there's a short blurb on my (ilovetvalot) and Tonnie's (tonnie2001969) profile page for you to copy and paste if you choose! Thanks again for reading!**_


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